The fight between Trojans and Achaeans was now left to rage as it would,
and the tide of war surged hither and thither over the plain as they aimed
their bronze-shod spears at one another between the streams of Simois and
Xanthus.

First, Ajax son of Telamon, tower of strength to the Achaeans,
broke a phalanx of the Trojans, and came to the assistance of his comrades
by killing Acamas son of Eussorus, the best man among the Thracians, being
both brave and of great stature. The spear struck the projecting peak of
his helmet: its bronze point then went through his forehead into the brain,
and darkness veiled his eyes.

Then Diomed killed Axylus son of Teuthranus, a rich man who lived
in the strong city of Arisbe, and was beloved by all men; for he had a
house by the roadside, and entertained every one who passed; howbeit not
one of his guests stood before him to save his life, and Diomed killed
both him and his squire Calesius, who was then his charioteer- so the pair
passed beneath the earth.

Euryalus killed Dresus and Opheltius, and then went in pursuit
of Aesepus and Pedasus, whom the naiad nymph Abarbarea had borne to noble
Bucolion. Bucolion was eldest son to Laomedon, but he was a bastard. While
tending his sheep he had converse with the nymph, and she conceived twin
sons; these the son of Mecisteus now slew, and he stripped the armour from
their shoulders. Polypoetes then killed Astyalus, Ulysses Pidytes of Percote,
and Teucer Aretaon. Ablerus fell by the spear of Nestor's son Antilochus,
and Agamemnon, king of men, killed Elatus who dwelt in Pedasus by the banks
of the river Satnioeis. Leitus killed Phylacus as he was flying, and Eurypylus
slew Melanthus.

Then Menelaus of the loud war-cry took Adrestus alive, for his
horses ran into a tamarisk bush, as they were flying wildly over the plain,
and broke the pole from the car; they went on towards the city along with
the others in full flight, but Adrestus rolled out, and fell in the dust
flat on his face by the wheel of his chariot; Menelaus came up to him spear
in hand, but Adrestus caught him by the knees begging for his life. "Take
me alive," he cried, "son of Atreus, and you shall have a full ransom for
me: my father is rich and has much treasure of gold, bronze, and wrought
iron laid by in his house. From this store he will give you a large ransom
should he hear of my being alive and at the ships of the
Achaeans."

Thus did he plead, and Menelaus was for yielding and giving him
to a squire to take to the ships of the Achaeans, but Agamemnon came running
up to him and rebuked him. "My good Menelaus," said he, "this is no time
for giving quarter. Has, then, your house fared so well at the hands of
the Trojans? Let us not spare a single one of them- not even the child
unborn and in its mother's womb; let not a man of them be left alive, but
let all in Ilius perish, unheeded and forgotten."

Thus did he speak, and his brother was persuaded by him, for his
words were just. Menelaus, therefore, thrust Adrestus from him, whereon
King Agamemnon struck him in the flank, and he fell: then the son of Atreus
planted his foot upon his breast to draw his spear from the
body.

Meanwhile Nestor shouted to the Argives, saying, "My friends, Danaan
warriors, servants of Mars, let no man lag that he may spoil the dead,
and bring back much booty to the ships. Let us kill as many as we can;
the bodies will lie upon the plain, and you can despoil them later at your
leisure."

With these words he put heart and soul into them all. And now the
Trojans would have been routed and driven back into Ilius, had not Priam's
son Helenus, wisest of augurs, said to Hector and Aeneas, "Hector and Aeneas,
you two are the mainstays of the Trojans and Lycians, for you are foremost
at all times, alike in fight and counsel; hold your ground here, and go
about among the host to rally them in front of the gates, or they will
fling themselves into the arms of their wives, to the great joy of our
foes. Then, when you have put heart into all our companies, we will stand
firm here and fight the Danaans however hard they press us, for there is
nothing else to be done. Meanwhile do you, Hector, go to the city and tell
our mother what is happening. Tell her to bid the matrons gather at the
temple of Minerva in the acropolis; let her then take her key and open
the doors of the sacred building; there, upon the knees of Minerva, let
her lay the largest, fairest robe she has in her house- the one she sets
most store by; let her, moreover, promise to sacrifice twelve yearling
heifers that have never yet felt the goad, in the temple of the goddess,
if she will take pity on the town, with the wives and little ones of the
Trojans, and keep the son of Tydeus from falling on the goodly city of
Ilius; for he fights with fury and fills men's souls with panic. I hold
him mightiest of them all; we did not fear even their great champion Achilles,
son of a goddess though he be, as we do this man: his rage is beyond all
bounds, and there is none can vie with him in prowess"

Hector did as his brother bade him. He sprang from his chariot,
and went about everywhere among the host, brandishing his spears, urging
the men on to fight, and raising the dread cry of battle. Thereon they
rallied and again faced the Achaeans, who gave ground and ceased their
murderous onset, for they deemed that some one of the immortals had come
down from starry heaven to help the Trojans, so strangely had they rallied.
And Hector shouted to the Trojans, "Trojans and allies, be men, my friends,
and fight with might and main, while I go to Ilius and tell the old men
of our council and our wives to pray to the gods and vow hecatombs in their
honour."

With this he went his way, and the black rim of hide that went
round his shield beat against his neck and his ancles.

Then Glaucus son of Hippolochus, and the son of Tydeus went into
the open space between the hosts to fight in single combat. When they were
close up to one another Diomed of the loud war-cry was the first to speak.
"Who, my good sir," said he, "who are you among men? I have never seen
you in battle until now, but you are daring beyond all others if you abide
my onset. Woe to those fathers whose sons face my might. If, however, you
are one of the immortals and have come down from heaven, I will not fight
you; for even valiant Lycurgus, son of Dryas, did not live long when he
took to fighting with the gods. He it was that drove the nursing women
who were in charge of frenzied Bacchus through the land of Nysa, and they
flung their thyrsi on the ground as murderous Lycurgus beat them with his
oxgoad. Bacchus himself plunged terror-stricken into the sea, and Thetis
took him to her bosom to comfort him, for he was scared by the fury with
which the man reviled him. Thereon the gods who live at ease were angry
with Lycurgus and the son of Saturn struck him blind, nor did he live much
longer after he had become hateful to the immortals. Therefore I will not
fight with the blessed gods; but if you are of them that eat the fruit
of the ground, draw near and meet your doom."

And the son of Hippolochus answered, son of Tydeus, why ask me
of my lineage? Men come and go as leaves year by year upon the trees. Those
of autumn the wind sheds upon the ground, but when spring returns the forest
buds forth with fresh vines. Even so is it with the generations of mankind,
the new spring up as the old are passing away. If, then, you would learn
my descent, it is one that is well known to many. There is a city in the
heart of Argos, pasture land of horses, called Ephyra, where Sisyphus lived,
who was the craftiest of all mankind. He was the son of Aeolus, and had
a son named Glaucus, who was father to Bellerophon, whom heaven endowed
with the most surpassing comeliness and beauty. But Proetus devised his
ruin, and being stronger than he, drove him from the land of the Argives,
over which Jove had made him ruler. For Antea, wife of Proetus, lusted
after him, and would have had him lie with her in secret; but Bellerophon
was an honourable man and would not, so she told lies about him to Proteus.
'Proetus,' said she, 'kill Bellerophon or die, for he would have had converse
with me against my will.' The king was angered, but shrank from killing
Bellerophon, so he sent him to Lycia with lying letters of introduction,
written on a folded tablet, and containing much ill against the bearer.
He bade Bellerophon show these letters to his father-in-law, to the end
that he might thus perish; Bellerophon therefore went to Lycia, and the
gods convoyed him safely.

"When he reached the river Xanthus, which is in Lycia, the king
received him with all goodwill, feasted him nine days, and killed nine
heifers in his honour, but when rosy-fingered morning appeared upon the
tenth day, he questioned him and desired to see the letter from his son-in-law
Proetus. When he had received the wicked letter he first commanded Bellerophon
to kill that savage monster, the Chimaera, who was not a human being, but
a goddess, for she had the head of a lion and the tail of a serpent, while
her body was that of a goat, and she breathed forth flames of fire; but
Bellerophon slew her, for he was guided by signs from heaven. He next fought
the far-famed Solymi, and this, he said, was the hardest of all his battles.
Thirdly, he killed the Amazons, women who were the peers of men, and as
he was returning thence the king devised yet another plan for his destruction;
he picked the bravest warriors in all Lycia, and placed them in ambuscade,
but not a man ever came back, for Bellerophon killed every one of them.
Then the king knew that he must be the valiant offspring of a god, so he
kept him in Lycia, gave him his daughter in marriage, and made him of equal
honour in the kingdom with himself; and the Lycians gave him a piece of
land, the best in all the country, fair with vineyards and tilled fields,
to have and to hold.

"The king's daughter bore Bellerophon three children, Isander,
Hippolochus, and Laodameia. Jove, the lord of counsel, lay with Laodameia,
and she bore him noble Sarpedon; but when Bellerophon came to be hated
by all the gods, he wandered all desolate and dismayed upon the Alean plain,
gnawing at his own heart, and shunning the path of man. Mars, insatiate
of battle, killed his son Isander while he was fighting the Solymi; his
daughter was killed by Diana of the golden reins, for she was angered with
her; but Hippolochus was father to myself, and when he sent me to Troy
he urged me again and again to fight ever among the foremost and outvie
my peers, so as not to shame the blood of my fathers who were the noblest
in Ephyra and in all Lycia. This, then, is the descent I
claim."

Thus did he speak, and the heart of Diomed was glad. He planted
his spear in the ground, and spoke to him with friendly words. "Then,"
he said, you are an old friend of my father's house. Great Oeneus once
entertained Bellerophon for twenty days, and the two exchanged presents.
Oeneus gave a belt rich with purple, and Bellerophon a double cup, which
I left at home when I set out for Troy. I do not remember Tydeus, for he
was taken from us while I was yet a child, when the army of the Achaeans
was cut to pieces before Thebes. Henceforth, however, I must be your host
in middle Argos, and you mine in Lycia, if I should ever go there; let
us avoid one another's spears even during a general engagement; there are
many noble Trojans and allies whom I can kill, if I overtake them and heaven
delivers them into my hand; so again with yourself, there are many Achaeans
whose lives you may take if you can; we two, then, will exchange armour,
that all present may know of the old ties that subsist between
us."

With these words they sprang from their chariots, grasped one another's
hands, and plighted friendship. But the son of Saturn made Glaucus take
leave of his wits, for he exchanged golden armour for bronze, the worth
of a hundred head of cattle for the worth of nine.

Now when Hector reached the Scaean gates and the oak tree, the
wives and daughters of the Trojans came running towards him to ask after
their sons, brothers, kinsmen, and husbands: he told them to set about
praying to the gods, and many were made sorrowful as they heard
him.

Presently he reached the splendid palace of King Priam, adorned
with colonnades of hewn stone. In it there were fifty bedchambers- all
of hewn stone- built near one another, where the sons of Priam slept, each
with his wedded wife. Opposite these, on the other side the courtyard,
there were twelve upper rooms also of hewn stone for Priam's daughters,
built near one another, where his sons-in-law slept with their wives. When
Hector got there, his fond mother came up to him with Laodice the fairest
of her daughters. She took his hand within her own and said, "My son, why
have you left the battle to come hither? Are the Achaeans, woe betide them,
pressing you hard about the city that you have thought fit to come and
uplift your hands to Jove from the citadel? Wait till I can bring you wine
that you may make offering to Jove and to the other immortals, and may
then drink and be refreshed. Wine gives a man fresh strength when he is
wearied, as you now are with fighting on behalf of your
kinsmen."

And Hector answered, "Honoured mother, bring no wine, lest you
unman me and I forget my strength. I dare not make a drink-offering to
Jove with unwashed hands; one who is bespattered with blood and filth may
not pray to the son of Saturn. Get the matrons together, and go with offerings
to the temple of Minerva driver of the spoil; there, upon the knees of
Minerva, lay the largest and fairest robe you have in your house- the one
you set most store by; promise, moreover, to sacrifice twelve yearling
heifers that have never yet felt the goad, in the temple of the goddess
if she will take pity on the town, with the wives and little ones of the
Trojans, and keep the son of Tydeus from off the goodly city of Ilius,
for he fights with fury, and fills men's souls with panic. Go, then, to
the temple of Minerva, while I seek Paris and exhort him, if he will hear
my words. Would that the earth might open her jaws and swallow him, for
Jove bred him to be the bane of the Trojans, and of Priam and Priam's sons.
Could I but see him go down into the house of Hades, my heart would forget
its heaviness."

His mother went into the house and called her waiting-women who
gathered the matrons throughout the city. She then went down into her fragrant
store-room, where her embroidered robes were kept, the work of Sidonian
women, whom Alexandrus had brought over from Sidon when he sailed the seas
upon that voyage during which he carried off Helen. Hecuba took out the
largest robe, and the one that was most beautifully enriched with embroidery,
as an offering to Minerva: it glittered like a star, and lay at the very
bottom of the chest. With this she went on her way and many matrons with
her.

When they reached the temple of Minerva, lovely Theano, daughter
of Cisseus and wife of Antenor, opened the doors, for the Trojans had made
her priestess of Minerva. The women lifted up their hands to the goddess
with a loud cry, and Theano took the robe to lay it upon the knees of Minerva,
praying the while to the daughter of great Jove. "Holy Minerva," she cried,
"protectress of our city, mighty goddess, break the spear of Diomed and
lay him low before the Scaean gates. Do this, and we will sacrifice twelve
heifers that have never yet known the goad, in your temple, if you will
have pity upon the town, with the wives and little ones If the Trojans."
Thus she prayed, but Pallas Minerva granted not her
prayer.

While they were thus praying to the daughter of great Jove, Hector
went to the fair house of Alexandrus, which he had built for him by the
foremost builders in the land. They had built him his house, storehouse,
and courtyard near those of Priam and Hector on the acropolis. Here Hector
entered, with a spear eleven cubits long in his hand; the bronze point
gleamed in front of him, and was fastened to the shaft of the spear by
a ring of gold. He found Alexandrus within the house, busied about his
armour, his shield and cuirass, and handling his curved bow; there, too,
sat Argive Helen with her women, setting them their several tasks; and
as Hector saw him he rebuked him with words of scorn. "Sir," said he, "you
do ill to nurse this rancour; the people perish fighting round this our
town; you would yourself chide one whom you saw shirking his part in the
combat. Up then, or ere long the city will be in a blaze."

And Alexandrus answered, "Hector, your rebuke is just; listen therefore,
and believe me when I tell you that I am not here so much through rancour
or ill-will towards the Trojans, as from a desire to indulge my grief.
My wife was even now gently urging me to battle, and I hold it better that
I should go, for victory is ever fickle. Wait, then, while I put on my
armour, or go first and I will follow. I shall be sure to overtake
you."

Hector made no answer, but Helen tried to soothe him. "Brother,"
said she, "to my abhorred and sinful self, would that a whirlwind had caught
me up on the day my mother brought me forth, and had borne me to some mountain
or to the waves of the roaring sea that should have swept me away ere this
mischief had come about. But, since the gods have devised these evils,
would, at any rate, that I had been wife to a better man- to one who could
smart under dishonour and men's evil speeches. This fellow was never yet
to be depended upon, nor never will be, and he will surely reap what he
has sown. Still, brother, come in and rest upon this seat, for it is you
who bear the brunt of that toil that has been caused by my hateful self
and by the sin of Alexandrus- both of whom Jove has doomed to be a theme
of song among those that shall be born hereafter."

And Hector answered, "Bid me not be seated, Helen, for all the
goodwill you bear me. I cannot stay. I am in haste to help the Trojans,
who miss me greatly when I am not among them; but urge your husband, and
of his own self also let him make haste to overtake me before I am out
of the city. I must go home to see my household, my wife and my little
son, for I know not whether I shall ever again return to them, or whether
the gods will cause me to fill by the hands of the Achaeans."

Then Hector left her, and forthwith was at his own house. He did
not find Andromache, for she was on the wall with her child and one of
her maids, weeping bitterly. Seeing, then, that she was not within, he
stood on the threshold of the women's rooms and said, "Women, tell me,
and tell me true, where did Andromache go when she left the house? Was
it to my sisters, or to my brothers' wives? or is she at the temple of
Minerva where the other women are propitiating the awful
goddess?"

His good housekeeper answered, "Hector, since you bid me tell you
truly, she did not go to your sisters nor to your brothers' wives, nor
yet to the temple of Minerva, where the other women are propitiating the
awful goddess, but she is on the high wall of Ilius, for she had heard
the Trojans were being hard pressed, and that the Achaeans were in great
force: she went to the wall in frenzied haste, and the nurse went with
her carrying the child."

Hector hurried from the house when she had done speaking, and went
down the streets by the same way that he had come. When he had gone through
the city and had reached the Scaean gates through which he would go out
on to the plain, his wife came running towards him, Andromache, daughter
of great Eetion who ruled in Thebe under the wooded slopes of Mt. Placus,
and was king of the Cilicians. His daughter had married Hector, and now
came to meet him with a nurse who carried his little child in her bosom-
a mere babe. Hector's darling son, and lovely as a star. Hector had named
him Scamandrius, but the people called him Astyanax, for his father stood
alone as chief guardian of Ilius. Hector smiled as he looked upon the boy,
but he did not speak, and Andromache stood by him weeping and taking his
hand in her own. "Dear husband," said she, "your valour will bring you
to destruction; think on your infant son, and on my hapless self who ere
long shall be your widow- for the Achaeans will set upon you in a body
and kill you. It would be better for me, should I lose you, to lie dead
and buried, for I shall have nothing left to comfort me when you are gone,
save only sorrow. I have neither father nor mother now. Achilles slew my
father when he sacked Thebe the goodly city of the Cilicians. He slew him,
but did not for very shame despoil him; when he had burned him in his wondrous
armour, he raised a barrow over his ashes and the mountain nymphs, daughters
of aegis-bearing Jove, planted a grove of elms about his tomb. I had seven
brothers in my father's house, but on the same day they all went within
the house of Hades. Achilles killed them as they were with their sheep
and cattle. My mother- her who had been queen of all the land under Mt.
Placus- he brought hither with the spoil, and freed her for a great sum,
but the archer- queen Diana took her in the house of your father. Nay-
Hector- you who to me are father, mother, brother, and dear husband- have
mercy upon me; stay here upon this wall; make not your child fatherless,
and your wife a widow; as for the host, place them near the fig-tree, where
the city can be best scaled, and the wall is weakest. Thrice have the bravest
of them come thither and assailed it, under the two Ajaxes, Idomeneus,
the sons of Atreus, and the brave son of Tydeus, either of their own bidding,
or because some soothsayer had told them."

And Hector answered, "Wife, I too have thought upon all this, but
with what face should I look upon the Trojans, men or women, if I shirked
battle like a coward? I cannot do so: I know nothing save to fight bravely
in the forefront of the Trojan host and win renown alike for my father
and myself. Well do I know that the day will surely come when mighty Ilius
shall be destroyed with Priam and Priam's people, but I grieve for none
of these- not even for Hecuba, nor King Priam, nor for my brothers many
and brave who may fall in the dust before their foes- for none of these
do I grieve as for yourself when the day shall come on which some one of
the Achaeans shall rob you for ever of your freedom, and bear you weeping
away. It may be that you will have to ply the loom in Argos at the bidding
of a mistress, or to fetch water from the springs Messeis or Hypereia,
treated brutally by some cruel task-master; then will one say who sees
you weeping, 'She was wife to Hector, the bravest warrior among the Trojans
during the war before Ilius.' On this your tears will break forth anew
for him who would have put away the day of captivity from you. May I lie
dead under the barrow that is heaped over my body ere I hear your cry as
they carry you into bondage."

He stretched his arms towards his child, but the boy cried and
nestled in his nurse's bosom, scared at the sight of his father's armour,
and at the horse-hair plume that nodded fiercely from his helmet. His father
and mother laughed to see him, but Hector took the helmet from his head
and laid it all gleaming upon the ground. Then he took his darling child,
kissed him, and dandled him in his arms, praying over him the while to
Jove and to all the gods. "Jove," he cried, "grant that this my child may
be even as myself, chief among the Trojans; let him be not less excellent
in strength, and let him rule Ilius with his might. Then may one say of
him as he comes from battle, 'The son is far better than the father.' May
he bring back the blood-stained spoils of him whom he has laid low, and
let his mother's heart be glad.'"

With this he laid the child again in the arms of his wife, who
took him to her own soft bosom, smiling through her tears. As her husband
watched her his heart yearned towards her and he caressed her fondly, saying,
"My own wife, do not take these things too bitterly to heart. No one can
hurry me down to Hades before my time, but if a man's hour is come, be
he brave or be he coward, there is no escape for him when he has once been
born. Go, then, within the house, and busy yourself with your daily duties,
your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for war is
man's matter, and mine above all others of them that have been born in
Ilius."

He took his plumed helmet from the ground, and his wife went back
again to her house, weeping bitterly and often looking back towards him.
When she reached her home she found her maidens within, and bade them all
join in her lament; so they mourned Hector in his own house though he was
yet alive, for they deemed that they should never see him return safe from
battle, and from the furious hands of the Achaeans.

Paris did not remain long in his house. He donned his goodly armour
overlaid with bronze, and hasted through the city as fast as his feet could
take him. As a horse, stabled and fed, breaks loose and gallops gloriously
over the plain to the place where he is wont to bathe in the fair-flowing
river- he holds his head high, and his mane streams upon his shoulders
as he exults in his strength and flies like the wind to the haunts and
feeding ground of the mares- even so went forth Paris from high Pergamus,
gleaming like sunlight in his armour, and he laughed aloud as he sped swiftly
on his way. Forthwith he came upon his brother Hector, who was then turning
away from the place where he had held converse with his wife, and he was
himself the first to speak. "Sir," said he, "I fear that I have kept you
waiting when you are in haste, and have not come as quickly as you bade
me."

"My good brother," answered Hector, you fight bravely, and no man
with any justice can make light of your doings in battle. But you are careless
and wilfully remiss. It grieves me to the heart to hear the ill that the
Trojans speak about you, for they have suffered much on your account. Let
us be going, and we will make things right hereafter, should Jove vouchsafe
us to set the cup of our deliverance before ever-living gods of heaven
in our own homes, when we have chased the Achaeans from
Troy."